It was hard being Jewish. There were no Shabbat dinners or daily prayers in my life, so I felt Jewish a grand total of three times in Costa Rica. I had to seek out spiritual enlightenment, and that usually only happened within the walls of the synagogue.

That stood in stark contrast to Israel, where being Jewish was pervasive and, by extension, easy. Everything around our hotel on the Kinerret closed on Shabbat, forcing time for reflection and relaxation. Kosher food is bountiful. Hebrew is omnipresent.

But I felt just as Jewish at services at B’nei Israel as I did when I was surrounded by it in Israel. 10 hours in a shul in Latin America was as spiritually fulfilling as 10 days in the Holy Land.

A few weeks ago I went to a Costa Rican presidential debate in San José. When I got back to the states, I wrote, recorded and edited my first international piece and my first piece for Latin Pulse I’ve done in months. It’s also the first time leading the weekly news program.

I also snagged a couple of photos of the candidates present.

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This is an important report for me. Majoring in international studies was my way of preparing me for a life of international politics reporting. I’ve also invested myself in radio reporting with work at Latin Pulse as well as PBS MediaShift. The fact that this piece exemplifies both is particularly significant in my professional development.

I haven’t toured churches this intensely since my trip to Italy in 2010. But Costa Rica was the perfect place to do it. With such a rich history of Catholicism, the country is a rich case study in religious architecture, both old and new.